Fall continues its march into Winter and draws me to my studies with North American indigenes, to tales of WinterMan, SnowWalker, and the Northern Lights being the spirits of unborn children waiting to come to earth. We were lucky enough to get a good look at Comet A3. It’s next trip around the sun is in 80,000 years. I suspect many of us will be Joni Mitchell’s stardust when it returns.
Votes were cast and “A Twelfth of Carrabis” won for the newsletter title moving forward.
The Book of the Wounded Healers: A study in Perception Is currently scheduled for a late Oct-early Nov release. In 2024. Never hurts to be specific.
October-November 2024 Announcements
- Our 31 Oct 2024 RoundTable 360° session is Is ‘Schadenfreude’ German for ‘Casper, the Friendly Ghost’? – If humor is subjective, what makes ‘funny’ funny? and led by psychologist, author, and humorist Peter Desberg. Come & join us on Thursday, Oct 31st, 10:30amPT, 1:30pmET, 6:30pmLondonTime, 19h30 CEST. Reserve your space here (and be sure to wear your costume. I’m coming as a human being…)
Last month’s episode, Artistic Intent – Is it more important audiences get our meaning or we pay our bills?, had different creatives share how they walk the tightrope of message and money.
- I mentioned London (UK) based middle-grade author, copywriter, and biographer Rika Chandra’s venture into writing author bios in my August newsletter. I had mine done and am impressed. Rika wrote an objective biography using my language and voice (meaning she mimicked my writing style) so people reading my bio would both learn about me and get a taste of how I write. Nice. Take a look at Rika’s bio of me and let us know what you think.
- Writers’ month long workshop September 2024’s writers’ workshop covers many if not all phases of craft and storytelling. The September workshop is on Wednesdays, 6-27 November 2024, morning and evening openings available. Sign up here.
- I’ve shared some of Amazon best-selling author Greg Hickey’s work in previous newsletters. What I haven’t shared is Greg’s a former forensic firearms examiner with more than a decade of experience and training, and he’s been instrumental in solving Chicago area crimes involving firearms.
Greg’s put all his knowledge and experience into a handy, short, firearms guide for writers entitled 5 Facts Writers Should Know About Guns (And How to Use This Knowledge to Perfect Your Story) with simple, practical information and points out several instances where writers and creators have gotten details wrong.
You can download your free copy on StoryOrigin. - October’s been a good month to me publication-wise: My Grand Ture, The Tomb, The Exchange, Striders, and The Last Drop all appeared in WordCrafter Press’s Midnight Garden horror anthology along with several other authors’ work. You can get a taste of everyone’s work on my blog’s Midnight Garden posts.
The Weight, a short story about a man escaping his past only to encounter it, appears in Fabula Argentea.
The Boy in the Giant, one of my Tales of the Woods, a series of child-to-adult fables, appears in Carmina.
Take a look and tell them I sent you.
That’s it for October.
Enjoy!